AGTCTCC Chapter 5
by VolareJust now.
“Hmph.”
Lin Wu recorded Chu Qi’s spiritual data, with an “I knew it” expression on his face.
Xiang Li stared at the display screen, glanced at it briefly, then looked away and looked down at his report, frowning in confusion from time to time.
Chu Qi came out of the star pod, his fingertips touching his forehead, feeling a slight headache. He opened his eyes and looked at the disgruntled Lin Wu.
“Surprised?”
“It’s quite a surprise, Colonel Chu.” Lin Wu uploaded the data and handed the data device in his hand to Chu Qi in a sarcastic tone.
“Next time, remember to engrave your epitaph on the warship, so we don’t have to collect your corpse. Congratulations, you can start fantasizing about early retirement.”
Hearing this, Chu Qi frowned and took it to examine it carefully. Lin Wu snorted again in annoyance.
Getting anxious now? How many times have I told you not to listen? Now you’re starting to worry. How many times have I told you to use your Spiritual Power less, use your Spiritual Power less? How many times have I said it? You don’t pay attention to your body at all.
As if this body was his.
Chu Qi looked at his body data analysis report, Lin Wu stood aside and nudged him.
“Lie down.”
The doctor tapped the outer shell of the pod with his fingertips, the metallic vibration particularly clear in the confined space. “Take 20cc of blood serum for cross-matching.”
Xiang Li: “I won’t give blood!”
Chu Qi’s fingers flipping through the holographic report paused slightly. When he looked up, his eyelashes cast sharp shadows under his eyes.
Lin Wu: “…”
Seriously.
“Article 7 of the Third Medical Code.” Lin Wu skillfully brought up a floating screen. “In the absence of special circumstances, patients may independently choose…”
“He chooses a Spiritual Power test.” Chu Qi interrupted, the sound of combat boots hitting the floor waking up the dormant cleaning robot.
“He won’t give blood. Give him a Spiritual Power test.” Chu Qi said.
“Is that okay?” He turned to look at Xiang Li again, his tone questioning.
“Alright.” Xiang Li pursed his thin lips slightly.
Xiang Li turned and went out, giving Chu Qi a look of grievance before closing the door.
After seeing Xiang Li go out with the form, Lin Wu withdrew his gaze and looked at Chu Qi, asking curiously.
“Are you really going to raise this kid?”
Chu Qi stared intently at his report, meticulously, expressionless.
“His abilities are quite strong. The Empire should agree. I don’t have to worry about training and resources.”
Lin Wu raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not talking about that. Do you know what they’re saying outside?”
“Hmm?” Chu Qi didn’t even lift his head, making a questioning monosyllable sound in his throat, signaling the other party to continue.
“They’re saying that Colonel Chu brought back a pretty boy from this mission—”
“A, child, bride.” Lin Wu said each word deliberately, his eyes full of teasing.
After speaking, he didn’t wait for a response. He clicked his tongue and reached out to snatch the report from Chu Qi’s hand.
“Don’t look at it. You can’t change anything even if you look at it eight hundred times. Can you even understand it?”
Chu Qi rubbed his forehead wearily, feeling a little headache.
“What child bride?”
Lin Wu: “…”
Seriously, haven’t you heard a single word I said? Then why did you “hmm”?
Meeting Lin Wu’s resentful and scrutinizing gaze, Chu Qi choked and thought carefully.
“…”
A strange, deathly silence.
“Just that kid from before.” He repeated annoyedly.
Chu Qi understood and lightly said, “Oh.”
“Oh, what?” Lin Wu became anxious as soon as he heard this. “Is he really a child bride?”
“We just met.” Chu Qi smiled helplessly. “What are you worried about?”
“True.” Lin Wu calmed down, thinking that was also true.
That kid looked like he had a lively personality. The way he immediately lay on the ground and threw a tantrum was exactly like his five-year-old child.
He probably won’t cause too much trouble.
“By the way, what planet is he from? It’s impressive that he saved you in a pile of Polluted Entities.”
“C079.”
“C…what!” Lin Wu, who had just sat down, stood up again with a “whoosh.”
Then he wandered all over the room.
“C079. Do you know why you haven’t let him do a gene test yet? He doesn’t want to give blood… Then, what if he’s been Polluted and he’s lying to you!”
“Chu Qi!” Lin Wu’s voice suddenly rose, the momentary cracking sound hurting Chu Qi’s head. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples.
“How could you with something so big…”
Lin Wu noticed Chu Qi’s action, took a deep breath, and lowered his voice.
“Planet C079 is now overrun with Polluted Entities. What if he carries infected genes? Once they spread, it will originate from within the Empire. Do you know how much of an impact that would have!”
In Lin Wu’s tone of “You’re also a member of the Empire, you should understand,” Chu Qi said lightly, “I know.”
After speaking, he turned his head to look at the door, then turned back and picked up the cold tea on the table.
“So, isn’t that why I’m having him tested for Spiritual Power?”
“Just testing Spiritual Power isn’t enough insurance. I’m still worried!”
“I know what you’re worried about. If there were any problems, I wouldn’t have brought him back.”
As Chu Qi spoke, the temperature of the tea in his hand was transmitted through the ceramic cup to his fingertips. He lowered his eyes, his long, dark eyelashes half-covering his face.
“After Shen Gui went missing during interstellar teleportation last time, I installed a small device on everyone’s combat suit.”
“After waking up, I actually tested his blood.”
Chu Qi took a light sip of the tea, walked to the bedside without changing his expression, turned his back to Lin Wu, and silently poured the tea into a pot of plants.
So hard to drink. What kind of taste does Lin Wu have?
“While he was sleeping.”
Lin Wu: “…”
Xiang Li, eavesdropping at the door: “…………….”
He looked down at his open palm, and sure enough, he found a healed red dot on his wrist.
Tsk.
Lin Wu wanted to say something, but in the end, he just scratched the back of his head.
“Well, never mind. As long as you think it’s okay.”
Chu Qi pointed to the report that Lin Wu had snatched away.
“I’ve read the report.”
These words brought Lin Wu’s wandering thoughts back, and he looked at Chu Qi again.
Chu Qi paused and continued.
“Is there a way to improve it?”
Lin Wu was silent.
Lin Wu sighed.
“Colonel Chu, frequent use of Spiritual Power is not uncommon in the mecha combat military industry. Irritability, madness, stiff limbs—I don’t need to tell you, you’ve seen them all.”
“But look at you, acting like you don’t value your life. I know the higher-ups were going to transfer you to be a commander a few months ago.”
“…” Chu Qi put down the ceramic cup in his hand, his eyes as deep as a lake.
“I can still fight.”
“I know you can fight. Who doesn’t know that you, Chu Qi, are the best fighter? Even with your current physical condition, few of those little brats can beat you.”
Lin Wu said earnestly, “But I implore you to look at your report.”
“Chu Qi…”
He wanted to say something, but it stuck in his throat, both astringent and dry. He had a bellyful of grandiose words, but he couldn’t say them.
The threat that Polluted Entities posed to humanity was like the wind blowing across the earth, silent and invisible.
Maybe you’ll wake up one day and find yourself standing on the opposite side of humanity. Maybe by the time the sun sets, humans will have lost consciousness and turned into ignorant and unaware Polluted Entities.
Lin Wu took a deep breath.
“Anyway, I’ll upload this report to headquarters. I don’t care what headquarters says to you.”
For a long time, Chu Qi didn’t move, a silent protest.
“Get out.”
“…”
Chu Qi’s residence was only three blocks away from the Empire’s headquarters. The gray outer walls were covered with electronic vines, out of tune with the surrounding holographic neon lights.
Several pots of cacti were tilted under the porch, the thorns radiating a sickly waxy yellow, like mutant creatures forgotten in a radiation zone.
When the electronic lock made a sound indicating that the verification was successful, Xiang Li noticed that Chu Qi’s fingertip lingered on the door frame for 0.3 seconds.
This was the unique authentication delay of a military-grade scanner.
He was pulled forward by Chu Qi, his breath fogging up the chrome panel.
Chu Qi recorded Xiang Li’s iris information.
Noticing Xiang Li’s gaze, he followed it and saw the cacti.
Chu Qi explained, “They all say cacti are easy to grow, they can live even if you leave them alone. I don’t know why mine are wilting. The ones at Shen Gui’s house are growing very well.”
“Ding~”
The iris recorder made a confirmation sound.
Xiang Li saw that Chu Qi’s gaze was still on the cactus. The other’s slender fingertips poked at the soil in the pot, picking up a thin layer.
“Commander Chu.” Xiang Li said.
“Hmm.” Chu Qi stood up straight, rubbed the soil off his fingertips, and patted them.
“Let’s go in.”
Unlike the messy cacti at the door, the house was decorated very simply. Everything was neatly in its place, clean and tidy.
Chu Qi took Xiang Li to a room on the second floor. When he opened the door, the military-grade gel-coated hinges made a soft sound like a cat yawning.
Xiang Li smelled the lingering nano-spray in the air. It was a military-supplied disinfectant that would decompose into harmless citric acid after contacting the skin.
Xiang Li tapped the ground with the tip of his shoe. The bulletproof material of the suspended floor immediately rippled with light patterns.
Chu Qi: “You can sleep here.”
“The things are brand new. I just had them delivered. Tell me if you need anything else.”
“Commander, should I sleep on the bed or the floor?” Xiang Li surveyed his territory, crossed his arms, and asked, thinking of what Chu Qi had said on Little Potato Planet before.
“Sleep on the ceiling.”
“…”
Chu Qi chuckled.
“See if there’s anything you’re not satisfied with?”
“So-so, but you know, I’m not picky.” Xiang Li smiled politely.
Chu Qi looked up at the ceiling, then turned his gaze to the person in the room and asked.
“There’s a Spiritual Power testing device at home. Do you want to test it?”
“…”
On the transparent magnet, black rays devoured and roamed around each other.
What stunned Chu Qi was that at Xiang Li’s feet, a small magnetic field slowly unfolded, like a black lotus, blooming around.
In his peripheral vision, Xiang Li lowered his head and looked at the Energy Measurement Stone. His pink lips unconsciously pursed into a straight line, the black Spiritual Power reflected in his eyes.
It had been many years since he had seen a person with black Spiritual Power.
Spiritual Power was inherent, and from birth, all people with Spiritual Power had to be subject to the Empire’s unified control, but magnetic fields required talent.
At first, there was no such thing as magnetic fields, nor were there Polluted Entities. Everyone was hostile to their group, who ate and drank for free from the Empire because of this non-existent power, until the humans on Planet C079 were infected.
That day, it gave all the humans who thought they could be carefree once they had achieved technological freedom a hard slap in the face. All weapons were only for fighting for the last shred of dignity for humanity.
“Commander Chu?”
A hand gently patted Chu Qi’s shoulder.
Chu Qi blinked lightly, turned to look at Xiang Li, who smugly handed the magnet to Chu Qi.
Dense Spiritual Power filled the entire magnet, lying quietly in Xiang Li’s palm, the discordant silver swirling within.
“?”
Xiang Li saw that Chu Qi didn’t praise him as he had expected, but instead looked at his magnet with a distracted expression. So, he stingily put the magnet in his pocket, pouted, and turned his head away.
With the magnet in front of him taken away, Chu Qi finally looked up at the owner of the black Spiritual Power.
“Want to go eat?”
Chu Qi: “Synthetic steak, a bit better than mushroom soup and nutritional supplements.”
Xiang Li’s fingers hidden under the table gently rubbed against each other, his drooping eyelashes dark and dense, covering half of his eyes.
In fact, Xiang Li only gently twisted away the Spiritual Power extract from his fingertip.
——That was Chu Qi’s.
Commander Chu probably won’t suspect him for the time being.
Unfortunately, there’s only one bottle.